Means for recovering values from citrus fruit



1944' V w. c. PLATT l 2,354,878

MEANS FOR RECOVERING VALUES FROM CITRUS FRUIT Original Filed June 25, 1940' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r4 TTOR/VE K 1944. w. c. PLATT 2,354,878

MEANS FOR RECOVERING VALUES FROM CITRUS FRUIT Original Filed June 25 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W/LL/AM C. P4477,

- INVENTOR Arromvzx Patented Aug; 1, 1944 amass roa moovanmc VALUES raoM ormus ram William Carrington or to California rim, Ontario, c5112., assign- Frult Growers Exchange, Los

Angeles. Calif., a corporation of California ber 11, 1941, Serial No.

9Claims.

citrus fruit may be treated in a rapid, inexpensive and controllable manner for the recovery of citrus oil and of citrus juices as separate products.

All citrus fruit comprise an external flavedo which contains oil cells and pigments, an internal arrangement of segments containing juice sacs, and an intervening layer of spongy absorbent cellulosic material known as albedo. Citrus oils have heretofore been recovered from the skin, peel or flavedo layer of citrus fruit in a number of different ways, but all of the previously known methods have distinctive disadvantages. If, for example, the entire fruit is rolled or pressed, or both, .the oil is absorbed to some extent in the albedo. Much of the-oil is rendered unrecoverable unless distilled because of such absorption and. moreover, the separation of the oil from the juice of the fruit is difficult. In many instances, the citrus .juice acquires a distinctly disagreeable and undesirable odor and flavor. A citrus juice containing appreciable amounts of oil has undesirable physiological effects. Other' manual methods are extremely time-consuming and the yields obtained are relatively low.

An object of the present invention is to devise means whereby the oil-containing cells of the flavedo are punctured, opened or otherwise caused to discharge their oil content without injuring the remainder of the fruit and without unduly exposing the albedo so that the absorption of the liberated oil by the albedo is minimized or completely eliminated.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to disclose means whereby the oil cells of the fiavedo may be caused to liberate their contained oil without cutting or otherwise exposing the juice sacs to the action of air or other elements, thereby permitting the central portion of the fruit to retain its naturally provided protective coating of albedo and thereby permitting the use of the fruit as a source of citrus juice of good quality.

Generally stated, these objects have been attained by providing means for rolling the citrus fruit over an abrading surface for the purpose of puncturing and opening the 011 cells of the I flavedo and in reducing the pressure of the fruit against such abrading surface by immersing the surface of the fruit in a liquid of somewhat lower density than the fruit so that the fruit is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid dis placed. In this manner, the abrading surface exerts a-positive but gentle pressure against the application in. 25, 1940, sci-n1 No. Divided and tlzihigiilication Septem- (01.146-3) This invention pertains to devices whereby fruit and the oil cells of the flavedo are punctured and abraded to a required degree without permitting the albedo to absorb undue quantities of the oil liberated from the oil cells. when this method of operation is "conducted in the preferred manner, the flavedo is not completely removed and the albedo is not exposed, or only partially exposed. It is to be understood that the line of demarcation between the flavedo and albedo is indefinite.

Additional objects and advantages of the machines of this invention will be more readily understood by those skilled in the art from a consideration of an exemplary form of the invention shown in the appended drawings and a more detailed description of the method as given hereinafter. In order to facilitate understanding, reference will be had to the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of device in which the method may be carried out.

Fig, 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken through the device shown in Fig. 1, central portions of the device having been broken away.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken along the plane III-III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken along the plane IVIV of Fig. 2. v

Fig. 5 isan enlarged transverse section, partly diagrammatic, of the bottom of the device at an intermediate point.

As previously stated, the apparatus of the present invention provides for puncturing of the oil cells of the flavedo of citrus fruit by rolling the fruit over an abrading surface. In order to reduce the pressure of the fruit against such abrading surface and therebyprevent undue removal of the flavedo and undue exposure of the albedo, the fruit and the abrading surface are immersed in a liquid. It is well known that a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the body displaced. The liquid in which the fruit are immersed not only acts to reduce contact presure between the fruit and the abrading' surface but also provides an ambient liquid capable of receiving the oil liberated by the punctured cells as soon as such cells maintained, to which body citrus fruit can be added. Means are also provided for maintaining a countercurrent flow of fruit and liquid in the apparatus during the oil-extracting process. Citrus fruit from which oil has been extracted may be discharged from one end of the apparatus while oil-carrying liquid may be removed from the other end of the apparatus. Such oilcarrying liquid is then sent through suitable separators, preferably of the centrifugal type, for the removal of the oil from the liquid. The treated citrus fruit discharged from the other end of the apparatus may then go to suitable juice-extracting devices, such as roller mills, crushers, extractors, etc. In this manner, citrus juice uncontaminated with excessive or undesirable amounts of citrus oil and thereby free from the undesired odors and flavors is obtained while a high yield of citrus oil of good quality is separately recovered from the same fruit.-

The apparatus illustrated in the appended drawings has been found to be eminently suited. As there shown, a virtually horizontal cylinder I is rotatably supported as at 2 and 3 in a substantially horizontal position. The cylinder is provided with inwardly extending flanges at each end, such flanges being indicated at 4 and 5, so as to leave axial openings'which, for the purpose of simplicity, will be termed the fruit feed opening 6 and the fruit discharge opening 1. The latter may be provided with a conical spout 8.

Adjacent the fruit inlet 6 is a. fruit-restraining means positioned in the cylinder I. Such fruitrestraining means may comprise an annular disc 9 suitably attached to the interior of the cylinder and provided with perforations or with sufficient space between the disc and the inner walls of the cylinder to permit liquid to freely pass therethrough. Means are provided for removing liquid from the cylinder adjacent the fruit-feeding end thereof and such means may comprise a plurality of dippers I0, II and I2 which may be carried by the internal surface of the cylinder I between the end flange and the fruit restrainer 9, or an end flange.

The fruit discharge end of the cylinder I is provided with a fruit pick-up and discharge device capable of removing fruit from the cylinder and discharging the same through the port I and spout 8. In the illustrative form shown in the drawings, the fruit pick-up and discharge comprises a foraminous spiral I3 attached to the inwardly extending end flange 4 by a suitable framework including members such as I4, one end of said spiral terminating at the level of the port I while the other end of the spiral rests upon or is in close contact with the inner surface of the cylinder I, as indicated at I5. The inner end or back of the spiral is closed with a foraminous member I6.

The portion of the spiral pick-up I3 contiguous to the discharge port I may include a helical blade I! carried on the internal surface of the pick-up member for the purpose of positively advancing fruit picked up by the said pick-up device during rotation of the cylinder I axially of the device and through the port] and spout 8.

The inner surface of the cylinder I is preferably lined with an abrasive material capable of puncturing, tearing or opening the oil cells present in the skin or peel of the fruit. Although various materials may be used as liners, good results have been obtained by lining the cylinder I with an inwardly perforated sheet of metal most clearly shown in Fig. 5 at I9. These inwardly. extending perforations may vary in number per square inch within wide limits but in actual practice it has been found that perforations varying from about 64 to 98 per square inch are well suited. The upstanding, inwardly extending, deformed portions of metal adjacent each perforation may, range from about 1;; inch to about inch in height. Metals perforated in this manner constitute a greater-like surface.

At this time attention should be called to the fact that all metals employed in the apparatus should be non-corrodible. by acidic solutions. Iron and mild steel have been found satisfactory; copper is not a preferred metal for use in this equipment.

A body of liquid is maintained in the cylinder, the maximum depth of the liquid being depend ent upon the distance between the inner surface of the liner and the lowermost portion of the fruit inlet and outlet ports 6 and I respectively. It is desirable to maintain a body of liquid sufficient to immerse the fruit being treated. If, therefore, ordinary citrus fruit such as oranges are being treated, the minimum depth of liquid should be about 4 inches, although greater depths can well be employed. In actual practice, on oranges the maximum depth of liquid within the cylinder I is about 10 inches. Obviously, the depth of the liquid may vary with the size of the fruit being treated, the internal diameter of the cylinder I, etc.

Means are providedfor feeding fruit into this body of liquid. For example, fruit may move along a conveyor belt 2| (toward the observer in Fig. 2) and be deflected by means of a weighted gate 22 into a bin 23 provided with a chute 24 extending through the fruit inlet port 6, past the fruit-restraining dam 9 into the body of the cylinder I. The belt 2I is ordinarily driven in any suitable manner and citrus fruit is permitted to pile up in the bin 23 due to excessive feed by the conveyor belt 2|. When the bin '23 is filled. the weighted hinged gate 22 will open, permitting the fruit carried by the belt topass the bin 23 to another unit, machine, conveyor, or the like. The bottom of the bin 23 is provided with a conveyor 20 driven by a variable speed motor, this belt moving the fruit from the bin into the chute 24 and into the cylinder I. Rate of feed is therefore controlled by the variable speed conveyor 20.

The fruit supplied to th cylinder I are preferably washed before being admitted thereto but need not be either washed or graded for size. The body of the cylinder becomes filled with a mass of fruit partially suspended in the body of water contained therein, and such mass of fruit moves from the fruit-feeding end to the fruitdischarge end under the influence of the additional fruit which is continuously being fed to the cylinder. The fruit pick-up and discharge device I3 continually removes treated fruit from the cylinder I and in that manner, movement of fruit from one end of the cylinder to the other is established.

As the fruit are removed by the pick-up device I3, they are sprayed with liquid through spray heads 25 and 26 positioned within the discharge device and supplied with liquid by means of line 21. Residual surface oil or oil-containing liquid carried by the fruit are thus rinsed therefrom before the fruit are discharged onto a conveyor belt 28 leading to suitabl juice-extracting equipment, such as crushers, rollers, or the like. I

Countercurrent flow of liquid and fruit is established within the cylinder l by admitting fresh liquid through the spray heads 25, 28, and removing oil-containing liquid from a point adjacent the fruit inlet 6. The dippers N, H and V I! previously mentioned pick up oil-containing liquid and discharge the sam into a suitable trough lll having the outlet line 3| leading to separators capable of removing and separating the oil from the liquid. A- drain plug 32 is shown for the purpose of facilitating discharge of contents whenever the apparatus is shut down for repairs, cleaning, or the like.

Although a particular form of dippers is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it is to be understood that the shape, form, disposition and number of dippers may vary. Moreover, other forms of liquid discharge devices may be employed. The capacity of the dippers and their number will depend upon the speed of rotation of the cylinder and the .rate at which fresh liquid is admitted to the cylinder throughthe spray heads 25 and 26. The

discharge capacity of the dippers and the supply of fresh liquid should be substantially balanced so that a virtually constant body of liquid is maintained within the cylinder. It is to be understood that the cylinder rotates during operation so that the citrus fruit supplied thereto are caused to contact with the bottom of the cylinder, the rotation of the cylinder causing numerous inwardly extending sharp edges of the abrasive lining Is to puncture the oil-containin cells of the flavedo. Undue abrasion is prevented because the fruit are buoyed up by the liquid. In the event fruit of varying sizes are being supplied to the apparatus, it will be found that the larger fruit will have their flavedo removed to a much larger degree than small fruit. If, however, sized or graded fruit are supplied to the ma- Y chine, then the rate of feed may be carefully adjusted so that a well controlled and substantially uniform amount of the flavedo is removed during the operation.

An apparatus of the character described hereinabove having an internal diameter of about 3 feet and an approximate length of 22 feet, rotating at about 36 R. P. M. is capable of treating 5 tons of oranges per hour. When water is used as the buoying liquid, from 200 to 300 gallons of water may be added to the equipment per hour,

the liquid removed from the apparatus then con-' taining approximately 1% to 3% of oil, which is very readily separable from the liquid. It has been found that the method of operation described herein permits a recovery of approximately twice the amount of oil capable of being obtained by rolling and pressing. Furthermore, the oil so produced is lighter in color and is of good quality.

This application is a. division of my co-pending application Serial No. 342,274 filed June 25, 1940.

' I claim:

1. An apparatus for the extraction of oils from whole citrus fruit, the combination of: a rotatable horizontal cylinder provided with an intil) .wardly extending flange at each end thereof. said .fianges being adapted to retain a body f liquid in said cyl nder. an inner liner of abrasive material in said cylinder and rotatable therewith, a fruit pick-up and discharge device at one end of said cylinder. spray means for spraying liquid over the fruit on said discharge device. means for-feeding fruit into the other end of said cylincitrus fruit, the combination of: a virtually hurl-- zontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof, said flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder, said cylinder being provided with an abrasive inner surface, means for rotating the cylinder, means for feeding whole citrus fruit into one end'of the cylinder, a fruit pick-up and discharge device at the other end of said cylinder, means for spraying the fruit adjacent the fruit discharge end of the cylinder and means for discharging liquid from the fruit feeding end of the cylinder.

3. In an apparatus for the extraction of oils from whole citrus fruit, the combination of; a rotatable horizontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange' at each end thereof, said flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder, means for supplying liquid to saidcylinder, an inner liner of abrasive material in said cylinder, said liner being rotatable with the, cylinder, a fruit pick-up and discharge device carried by one end of said cylinder and means carried by the cylinder adjacent the opposite end thereof and rotating therewith for discharging liquid from the cylinder in timed relation to the rotation of the cylinder. 0

4. In an apparatus for the extraction of oils from whole citrus fruit, the combination of: a rotatable horizontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange in each end thereof. said flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder, means for supplying liquid to said cylinder, an inner liner of abrasive material in said cylinder and rotatable therewith, a fruit pick-up and discharge device at one end of said cylinder and means carried by th cylinder adjacent the opposite end thereof for discharging liquid from the cylinder in timed relation to the rotation of the cylinder. 7

, 5. In an,apparatus for the treatment of whole citrus fruit, the combination of a rotatable, virtually horizontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof, said flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder, said cylinder being provided with an abrasive inner surface rotatable with said cylinder; means for supplying liquid to said cylinder; a liquid-permeable, fruit-restraining means carried within the cylinder adjacent one end thereof; means for feeding whole citrus fruit into the last-named end of the cylinder andover said restraining means; and means for withdrawing fruit from the other end of the cylinder.

6. In an apparatus for the treatment of whole citrus fruit, the combination of: a. rotatable, virtually horizontal, elongated cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof, said flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder, said cylinder being provided with an abrasive inner surface rotatable with said cylinder; means for feeding whole .citrus fruit into one end of the cylinder; means for withdrawing fruit from the other end of the cylinder; said abrasive surface serving to rupture the oil-containing cells of the flavedo as the citrus fruit moves from said fruit-feeding means to said withdrawing means and means for supplying liquid to the cylinder at the fruitwithdrawing end and for spraying fruit during withdrawal, whereby a substantially continuous body of citrus fruit in liquid may be formed in said cylinder.

'7. In an apparatus for the treatment of whole citrus fruit, the combination of: a rotatable, virtually horizontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof, said flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder, said cylinder being provided with an abrasive inner surface rotatable with said cylinder; a liquid-permeable, fruit-restraining means carried within the cylinder adjacent one end thereof; means for feeding whole citrus fruit into the last-named end of the cylinder and over said restraining means, whereby a substantially continuous body of citrus fruit may be formed in the liquid within the cylinder between the restraining means and the other end of the cylinder; means for withdrawing liquid from the cylinder between the restraining means and the adjacent end, during rotation of'the cylinder; means for withdrawing fruit from the other end of the cylinder; and means for supplying liquid to the cylinder at the fruit-withdrawing end and for spraying fruit during such withdrawal.

8. In an apparatus for the treatment of whole citrus fruit, the combination of: a rotatable, elongated, horizontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof, said end flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder; means for feeding citrus fruit into one end of said cylinder whereby said fruit may move unrestrictedly in the body of liquid from said fruit feeding means to the opposite end of the cylinder; a .fruit pick-up and discharge device at such opposite end of the cylinder, a liner of abrasive material covering the inner wall of said cylinder, rotatable therewith. and adapted to rupture the oil-containing cells of the flavedo as the citrus fruit moves from said fruit feeding means to said pick-up device, and means for supplying liquid to said cylinder at such opposite end.

9. In an apparatus for the treatment of whole citrus fruit, the combination of: a rotatable, elongated horizontal cylinder provided with an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof, said end flanges being adapted to retain a body of liquid in said cylinder; means for feeding citrus fruit into one end of said cylinder whereby said fruit may move unrestrictedly in the body of liquid from said fruit feeding means to the opposite end of the cylinder; a fruit pick-up and discharge device at such opposite end of the cylinder; a liner of abrasive material covering the inner wall of the cylinder, rotatable therewith, and adapted to ruptur the oil-containing cells of the flavedo as the citrus fruit moves from said fruit feeding means to said pick-up device; spray means for spraying liquid over the fruit on said discharge device; and means for virtually continuously removing liquid from said cylinder at the fruit-feeding end.

WILLIAM CARRINGTON PLATT. 

